Ministers are developing plans to allow individuals on disability benefits to remain employed in order to reduce the number of people who are economically inactive in the labor market.
According to a Times report, the Treasury Department is considering plans to encourage people to return to work by offering tax breaks.
The number of working-age people with long-term illnesses has risen from about 2 million in 2019 to about 2.5 million, about a quarter more than before the pandemic, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
The paper reported that a health and disability white paper due before the March 15 budget recommends “reforming or abolishing” work capacity assessments used to assess eligibility for benefits. . Ministers want to replace the current system, described as “a perverse incentive to prove how sick you are”, with a policy that encourages claimants to show what jobs they might be able to do. I think
Jobs and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride is understood to be planning to ‘rewire’ the benefits system as the government seeks to reduce the number of people who have not sought work since the pandemic. .
As of July 2022, 23.3% of people aged 16 to 64 according to Covid self-reports will be economically active, according to data from the ONS report, according to last month’s COVID self-reports and labor market results. It turns out that it’s not working or looking for it. For work.
However, a Senate committee has found that early retirement is the single biggest contributor to economic stagnation and labor shortages in the UK.
Officials have been asked by senior cabinet ministers to consider exempting workers over the age of 50 from return-to-work income tax for six months to a year, according to The Times. “The biggest challenge facing us is how to get people back into the workforce,” said a senior government source. “There is a debate in the Treasury about how the tax system will be used and whether we can give more tax credits in the first few years of returning to work.”
On Tuesday, the Labor Party promised to immediately reinstate unemployment benefits if applicants for disability benefits who want to work are unable to do so.
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said:
“The Labor government will ensure that those in this position with the help of employment support can return to the benefits they were receiving without the need for another lengthy evaluation process.”
Human Resources Today Human Resources Manager Opportunities
See more HR Director jobs
